1. Whitmore/Stevenson: Strategies for Engineering Communication 1 of 10 Revising Like an Expert InventingDraftingRevising Inexperienced Writer50%45%05% Experienced Writer25%35%40%

2. Whitmore/Stevenson: Strategies for Engineering Communication 2 of 10 Specific Revising Strategies  Leave sufficient time for revising  Take time out  Read the document critically  Revise on all levels Content quality Persuasive emphasis Format conventions Paragraph organization Sentence structure Word choice

3. Whitmore/Stevenson: Strategies for Engineering Communication 3 of 10 More Revising Strategies  Revise in several sweeps  Make a paper copy  Read your document aloud  “The engineer prepared the specifications, purchased the materials, supervised the construction and reviewing the completed job.”  “The engineer preparing the budget.”  Read the document backward  Check the outline of the document

4. Whitmore/Stevenson: Strategies for Engineering Communication 4 of 10 More Revising Strategies  Make a list of recurring problems Things to Edit for: 1) Comma Splices 2) Unnecessary Passives 3) Empty Openers 4) Vague “This” Subjects 5) General Words 6) Talkie Verbs 7) Too many qualifiers 8) “Indeed” & “Really” Things to Edit for: 1) Comma Splices 2) Unnecessary Passives 3) Empty Openers 4) Vague “This” Subjects 5) General Words 6) Talkie Verbs 7) Too many qualifiers 8) “Indeed” & “Really”

5. Whitmore/Stevenson: Strategies for Engineering Communication 5 of 10 More Revising Strategies  Find a reader  Use the buddy system  Rewrite the introduction  Carefully review edited sentences “Abracadabra Incorporated now has ownership of 60% of the stock.”  “Abracadabra Incorporated now owns of 60% of the stock.”  Break the so-called “rules” when appropriate

6. Whitmore/Stevenson: Strategies for Engineering Communication 6 of 10 Perfectionism and Revising  Set clear limits on the amount of time and energy you will invest in editing.  Focus more attention on the high-level task of revising rather than on the low-level task of editing.  Ask readers to clarify their reactions to documents that you have written, noting the differences between your assumptions and their actual responses.

7. Whitmore/Stevenson: Strategies for Engineering Communication 7 of 10 Boredom and Revising  Increase the challenge of the task by focusing on more complex elements of the task (i.e., revising to address readers’ expectations rather than editing for correct word choice).  Increase motivation by considering the task as a small part of something with a more important purpose.  Do the least interesting tasks first and save the more interesting tasks for later.  Ask whether the boredom is actually masking a difficulty with the tasks.  Accept that not everything is interesting and set up a system to help return your attention to the task when it wanders (e.g., use a checklist).

8. Whitmore/Stevenson: Strategies for Engineering Communication 8 of 10 The Problem with English Spelling

9. Whitmore/Stevenson: Strategies for Engineering Communication 9 of 10 Spelling Checkers How did the following errors get into documents that were spell checked?  gurantee  guarantee  effiecient  efficient  inexspensive  inexpensive  farady  Faraday  indepenent  independent  accross  across

10. Whitmore/Stevenson: Strategies for Engineering Communication 10 of 10 Grammar Checkers